You are ahead in the race....your position is fantastic.....then with a 1 in 36 chance roll.....you throw the only dice that forces you to leave a shot. Your opponent has a 20% chance of hitting your blot....Disaster strikes...you are hit and dancing on the bar and your game has collapsed. To play BG successfully, you have to have the mental toughness to adjust to sudden swings of fortune.

Dance down to Taksim's on November 27th and learn how to deal with your fortune.

2018 Auckland Backgammon Championship

AND THE WINNERS ARE:

Grant Hoffman
(Nelson)
1st Place

Paul Kellett
(Auckland)
2nd Place

Richard Theunissen (Auckland)
3rd Place

Jo Hodder
(Auckland)
Consolation Prize

A
grueling Semi-Final & Final Match. The Auckland Players almost took down
Grant….but in the end he was able to bring home the victory and take the
Auckland Title & Trophy back to Nelson.

Congratulations to the WINNERS and congratulations to all of
the participants in the 2018 Auckland BG Championship.

For those unlucky BG Rollers who missed a
brilliant Tournament we will be announcing dates for the 2019 New Zealand
BG Championship in a few months. Will probably be played in beginning of April
2019.

2018 New Zealand Backgammon Championship

AND THE WINNERS ARE:

Karsten Nielsen (Den)1st Place

Sky Kodner (NZ)2nd Place

Grant Hoffman (NZ)3rd Place

Jan Suchanek (NZ)Consolation Prize

Congratulations to the WINNERS and congratulations to all of the participants in the 2018 New Zealand BG Championship.

For those unlucky BG Rollers who missed a brilliant Tournament we will be announcing dates for the 2018 Auckland BG Tournament in a few months.

2017 Auckland Backgammon Club Championship

AND THE WINNER IS:

Paul Kellett

Congratulations to Paul and to all of the participants in the 2017 Auckland Backgammon Club Championship.

2017
New Zealand Backgammon Championship

AND THE WINNERS ARE:

Julie
Hillis
(NZ)
1st Place

Mick
Dyett
(Aust)
2nd Place

Alan
Abel
(NZ)
3rd Place

Ivo
Zarnic
(NZ)
Consolation Prize

Congratulations
to the WINNERS and congratulations to all of the participants in the 2017 New Zealand BG Championship.

A
big thank you to Julie for keeping the NZ Trophy in NZ.

For
those unlucky BG Rollers who missed a brilliant Tournament we will be announcing
dates for the 2018
Auckland BG Tournament in a few months.

2017 Auckland Backgammon Tournament

AND
THE WINNERS ARE:

Doug
Thompson 1st Place

Grant
Hoffman 2nd Place

Rob
Davies 3rd Place

Carl
Dell Consolation Prize

Congratulations
to the WINNERS and congratulations to all of the participants in the 2017
Auckland BG Tournament.

A
big thank you to Doug for keeping the Auckland Trophy in Auckland.

How to Play Opening Roll 2-1

Opening roll 2 - 1 is one of the most interesting rolls.

There are two ways to play it:

24/23, 13/11 Splitting your back checker and bringing a builder down.

13/11, 6/5 Slotting your five point and bringing a builder down.

Both plays use the 2 to bring a checker down from the mid-point to the eleven point where it works as a builder to try and make a useful blocking point next turn.

The blot on the eleven point is pretty safe as it can only get hit with a 6-4. Chances are one out of eighteen.

The splitting play increases your chances of securing an advanced anchor and improves your coverage of the opponents outer board. If you are going to split your runners the best time to do so is in the beginning of the game. Your opponent gains little by hitting you on a point deep in his inner board.

The slotting play on the five point increases your chances of making this important point on your next roll. The danger is if you are hit. However, your opponent only has 15 out of 36 rolls that will indeed hit the exposed blot. The game is early and now is the time to take a risk and fight for a superior position. If you are not hit you will have a total of 28 rolls out of 36 to cover the blot and secure the very important five point. If you are hit there is still plenty of time to regroup and find another way to win.

There is another reason to slot the five. There are a stack of checkers on the six-point and they want to do something. 1 is the perfect number for taking a checker off your overcrowded 6 point and setting it to work. A popular backgammon saying: "Put your checkers where they belong". The extra checkers on your 6 point belong on your 5 point.

Slotting is ranked as the best move in all of the computer roll-outs. The slotting play is favored by most experts.

How to Play Opening Roll 3-2

Opening roll 3 - 2 is a roll with many possibilities.

There are three ways to play it:

24/21, 13/11 Splitting using the 3 and bring down a builder using the 2.

24/22, 13/10 Splitting using the 2 and bring down a builder using the 3.

13/11, 13/10 Bringing down two builders.

Slotting the five-point 8/5 is not a good idea because you are using the wrong checker. It's your overloaded six-point that you want to use for slotting.

24/21, 13/11 is the more popular of the two split and build plays. Use the 2 to bring down a builder from the mid-point where it can be used next turn to make a blocking point.

Splitting to the 21 point with the 3 has advantages and disadvantages. You have a chance to make an advanced anchor if you are not hit. A real advantage in the early game. The downside is your opponents four-point is a point he wants to make and he will fight for it. You also prevent your opponent from bringing builders down into his outer board and developing naturally.

24/22, 13/10 is much less popular. The resulting position is inflexible. Your two runners are two pips apart; and the stacks on your eight and six points are also two pips apart. Your good rolls are duplicated. It is always better not to duplicate your good rolls.

13/11, 13/10 concentrates on offence. The plan is to build a blockade before your opponent can free his back checkers. You are almost certain to make good blocking points next roll. The risk is your opponent has 7 possibilities out of 36 rolls to hit you.

The computer roll-outs rank 24/21, 13/11 and 13/11, 13/10 as even. The other split play while in third place is not far behind. The choice depends on your opponents temperament, the score and your aggressiveness.

How to Play Opening Roll 4-1

Opening roll 4 - 1 is a roll to suite different types of game strategy.

There are two ways to play it:

24/23, 13/9 Splitting the back checkers and bringing a builder down from the mid-point.

13/9, 6/5 Bringing a builder down from the mid-point and slotting the five-point.

There was a time when slotting both five-points (yours and your opponents) was popular. However, this is a very risky move. There are too many bad things that can happen when you leave so many juicy blots on tempting points.

24/23, 13/9 is the most popular way to play the opening 4-1. The builder on the nine-point provides many point-making opportunities. It's balanced by splitting your runners. 24/23 does not look dynamic, but contains hidden power. It is more dangerous for your opponent to leave a blot in his inner board and gives you a chance to secure a valuable anchor.

13/9, 6/5 was more popular in the past. There are three opening rolls that lend itself to slotting the five-point. 2/1, 4/1, 5/1. The 4/1 is much more dangerous than the 2/1 because there are many more ways for your opponent to hit your blot on the nine-point than the blot on the eleven-point. You are very exposed. Plus you have not split your runners so the back side of your game is static.

The computer roll-outs rank the safer splitting play 24/23, 13/9 as your best bet. However, if losing a gammon does not matter, the aggressive slot move wins most games. The choice depends on the score / match you find yourself in and the recklessness of your opponent.